The Parliament of the World’s Religions is proud to distribute It’s About Time, a weekly podcast produced in partnership with our allies at Religica.org and Seattle University.

Life is hard. If I want to relate to life’s spiritual dimension in a way that embraces—rather than evades—the human experience, generative spirituality unfolds for me along three axes:

Generative spirituality is rooted in the past. Those who have gone before: our ancestral legacy, faith lineage, families of origin.

Generative spirituality has a robust relationship with the present moment. Who am I if I’m radically present, being here now?

And… perhaps the least-understood element…generative spirituality anchors faith forward into tomorrow.

There’s a definition of what it means to be a priest that has always daunted me. A priest it has been said is “a keeper of the mysteries; a keeper of the sacred mysteries of our faith. People often confuse the idea of mystery with the idea of secret. But I can assure you that as a keeper of the mysteries of the faith it is neither my job nor any other priest’s job to keep the mysteries of our faith a secret.

2002 returns with their 18th full-length album, A World Away. The six vocal and four instrumental songs are new and all original, and cover much of 2002 s vast sonic palette- from progressive and pop new age, to their neoclassical and ambient roots. Thematically, the album is a cosmic love story, of kindred spirits traveling together through many times and many worlds, becoming lost and separated from one another, and finally reunited.

Mirrors is Sangeeta Kaur’s third spiritual, new age / classical, crossover album. This vocally strong and mesmerizing album features renown composer and producer, Nicolas Neidhardt on piano and keyboard as well as the multi- instrumentalist, Dat Nguyen on guitars and flute. Sangeeta s songs will take the listener to a place of peace and grace and it inspires the listener to see life from a different perspective.

What is our relation to this planet?
What is our planet’s relation to the cosmos?

Journey of the Universe provides a story that responds to these questions and to the shift in consciousness that the Earthrise photo initiated.

Part 4 of our series featuring audio from Father Richard Rohr’s lecture “The Human Spirit.”

Moving from stage 3 to 4 is likened to a ritual wounding – we are forced to leave our proverbial tribe and enter inner awareness of ourselves. We discover that our identities live within our bodies. Stage 4 offers a wonderful experience of self-discovery. We get to immerse ourselves in religions and practices that open up personal realizations.

OvO means “seed” or “egg” and stands for the point in time or space at which something starts- the next evolution.

Together, learning to be LOVE in the world! As we explore the connections between Progressive Christianity and the Church, Brian McLaren’s question: “What if Churches became schools of LOVE?” provides insights into the church’s task to become communities where we can learn to become the most LOVING version of ourselves. This is the last of our BRUNCHtalks for this summer. We have explored what it means to be Progressive in approach: Christ-like in action. 

Friend and frequent contributor to ProgressiveChristianity.org,  Rabbi Brian, has compiled conversations with 12 of his Biblically literate friends in a series of podcasts that both delight and educate.

Join Rabbi Brian as he talks to Reverend Jim Burklo, Dr. Tracy Hartman, Rev. Irene Monroe, Pastor John Pavlovitz and more as he seeks to find out what the bible is and how to use it to fight oppression.

As our images of God expand, we must move beyond praying to an elsewhere god. All of life is lived in the midst of Divinity. The life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth point to the reality that Divinity is LOVE. All life is lived in the midst of Love. Prayer is seeking connection to Divinity/Love. Prayer changes us, changing us, changes creation, and so prayer changes the ONE in whom we live, and breathe, and have our being.

The anonymous gospel storyteller that we call Mark, provides us with the shortest of the four gospels — just 16 brief chapters. But don’t let that fool you. The writer of this account of the life and times of Jesus of Nazareth packs more action into his short gospel than any of the racy novels, spy thrillers, mystery novels or tell all biographies that you can find today on Amazon. Today’s reading occurs barely half way through our anonymous storyteller’s account of the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus and already Jesus has: been baptized in the river Jordan and been tempted in the wilderness by the evilest of villains, Satan himself.

Elfbert, Santa’s Reluctant Helper is a charming illustrated story told in rhyme about a devoted little elf who persuades Santa Claus to give children “qualities” for Christmas instead of toys with surprising and delightful results. The illustrations are rendered in an antique wood block style.

Heart failure, accident, or murder? John Shuck interviews Hugh Turley about the mysterious death of Thomas Merton.

This song speaks of healing power and medicine of Woman, the Moon and the Earth Herself. “Machi” is a word that comes from the Mapuche people of Chile and Argentina. A Machi is a medicine woman and sometimes also refers to a medicine man. May the images here remind us all what a miracle this life is. May we see that though tender and vulnerable our Earth is wise and resilient beyond all measure. “Where there is Love there is Life ” and here there is a lot of Love. Blessed Be.

The show that’s all about two basic questions: 1) What leads to a good death? – and 2) What does that tell us about how to live a good life? Hosts Andrew Chirch, David Greenson, and Jessica Shine bring their different perspectives to an exploration of death and life. Funny, bittersweet, sad, and sometimes amazing.

The gospel reading prescribed for this Sunday (Mark 3:20-35) paints a daunting picture of the perceptions of the people of Jesus’ hometown. The folks who knew Jesus, including his family worried that he might just be “out of his mind.” This is indeed a contrast to the ways in which Jesus is typically portrayed. This is a dangerous Jesus who ran the risk of being perceived as deranged. In his book “The Underground Church: Reclaiming the Subversive Way of Jesus” Robin Meyers captures some of this danger when he points to Mary Oliver’s poem “Maybe” in which Jesus’ “melancholy madness” is seen by his fellows as more dangerous than a storm. Safely ensconced in our imaginations, Jesus is rarely allowed to threaten the status quo to which we cling for dear life. Are we prepared for the stormy waters that would be stirred up should we take Jesus at his word? Maybe…

Contemplative Franciscan Priest Richard Rohr will help us understand the necessity of contemplative practice for modern life, explore the recent mindfulness phenomenon and even touch on the state of modern politics.